DeKok & the Somber Nude

 DeKok & the Somber Nude (1967) by A. C. Baantjer

Inspector DeKok of the Amsterdam police and his right-hand man Vledder are pulled into a search for a missing young woman. Nanette Bogaard's cousin Kristel van Daalen comes to report her as missing. Nanette is Kristel's partner in a flower business with Nanette creating beautiful arrangements while Kristel handles the business side of things. At this point the beautiful young woman has been missing less than twenty-four hours and Vledder can't understand why DeKok feels such an urgency about it. The cousin insists that Nanette has never stayed away overnight before and that she is certain that something awful has happened. As the two men begin their investigation, they find that they aren't the only ones looking for the flower-arranger. There's her morphine-addicted cousin, Frank Bogaard and journalist Barry Wieler who says he loves her but seems more like a reporter in search of a hot story, and Mr Staaten, a fiftish art collector and stockbroker who insists that the seventeen-year-old Nanette had agreed to marry him. In the background, there is Staaten's son Ronald who definitely did not care for the idea of a stepmother--especially one about his own age. There is is also the mysterious Brother Laurens, who may or may not have been Frank Bogaard's supplier, and  Pierre Popko, who painted a portrait of Nanette nude on the late Mrs. Staaten's couch.

The painting showed up at an art dealer's shop near the canals and seems to be very much in the center of the mystery. Once it's discovered, things move very quickly with Nanette's dismembered body found by the men at the Municipal Garbage Dump. A dirty one-legged doll helps lead DeKok to the location of Nanette's murder...and eventually to the culprit in this fairly grisly and cold-blooded murder.

I have such a mixed reaction here. On the one hand, I thoroughly enjoy Baantjer's style and the excellent translation work by H. G. Smittenaar. The read is smooth and fast-paced and the descriptions of Amsterdam make for a terrific background for the story. The murder is a little more violent than I tend to like, but we don't dwell on the imagery too long. And I thoroughly enjoy the relationship between DeKok and Vledder. My main frustration (which I share with Vledder) is that DeKok keeps things close to his chest--like Holmes. I guessed part of the solution. But the key word there is guessed. There are a number of observations that DeKok makes (to himself) that we're not privy to. He can't believe that Vledder (and we) didn't catch those things. But how could we? But for that I would be giving this four stars instead of ★★★ and 1/2.

First lines: It was raining. It had been raining for days, endless long July days.

Last line: "Yes," he said, "a snake in the shape of an angel."
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Deaths = 2 (one natural; one strangled)

Spellbound

 Spellbound (apa The House of Dr. Edwardes; 1927) by Francis Beeding (John Leslie Palmer & Hilary St. George Saunders)

This is the novel that the Hitchcock movie featuring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck was adapted from. It revolves around a "House of Rest" (for which, read a mental asylum) which serves as a haven for the imbalanced rich and a place where Dr. Edwardes, who owns the castle on the on mountain, can study interesting cases without worrying about money. The house, a literal fortress, sits in a circle or rock surrounded on three sides by the sheer slope of a desolate mountain in Switzerland. When night comes, it is a great crouching black hulk which the townspeople claim is the home of the Devil himself.

Constance Sedwick is a recently qualified doctor. Dr. Edwardes is an old friend of her father's and Edwardes offers her the position of his assistant. But before she arrives, Dr. Edwardes was sent away by his own doctor for a much needed rest and she finds a young Dr. Murchison, a doctor brought in from England, in charge of the asylum. At first all seems well, but Murchison has some odd quirks--reading books about the Devil and flinching when the shadow of a cross falls on him. There is also the funeral of one of the attendants at the hospital--murdered by the newest inmate. And a tale told by the villagers of blood which appears on the white stone in the black wood whenever the Devil is about. 

Things get worse...the inmates, who were fairly docile and benign in their own delusions begin to act in strange, more menacing ways. They talk about a wedding to come and begin patrolling around Constance's room at night..."to protect her." But she believes there is danger coming. Can she escape it--and take the innocent with her?

A very interesting read. I haven't actually seen the Hitchcock film (one of several of his films that I have yet to see), so I didn't have any preconceptions going in. Quite suspenseful, though I was a little disappointed that Constance didn't catch on to what was going on a little sooner. The characters are great--particularly the patients at the asylum. Beeding does a great job making each one distinct so it's easy to keep track of who is who. 

This is very much a "how will the heroine get out of this?" and "will the villain get away with it?" kind of story rather than a whodunnit. It's pretty obvious (to the reader, if not to Constance) pretty quick what's going on here...it's just a matter of how will everything be resolved. Now I want to go watch the movie. ★★★★

1st Line (Prologue): Dearest Helen, How delightful to get your letter, which we found waiting for us at Thonon.

John is an angel, but I shouldn't care to take a honeymoon with anybody; so don't be rash, and if ever you feel in the consenting mood, which so often happens, pull yourself together and think it over. Fortunately, John and I agree about all the most important things. What I mean is that we both like to sleep with the window open. (p. 7)

1st Line (1st Chapter): Constance Sedgwick, M.D., aged twenty-six, was staring at herself critically in the long mirror.

Fortunately for Doctor Edwardes, lunacy is not confined to the poorer classes; and he had treated in his time more than one poor gentleman who, if ha had not been sitting so comfortably in Chateau Landry, might have been sitting rather less at his ease, though possibly quite as much at home, in the House of Lords. (p. 13)

Last Line: I must stop now or I shall be losing the post. We are moving on next week to Bordighera and Alaisso. My best love to you all, Always your affectionate Susan"
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Deaths =6 (two fell from height; two stabbed; one natural; one in war)

No Peace for the Wicked

 No Peace for the Wicked (1966) by E.X./Elizabeth Ferrars (E.X. on my 3-in-1 volume; Elizabeth when published on its own)

Synopsis (from the book): Antonia Winfield is just about ready to crack wide open! And who wouldn't be! Her vacation on a "quiet" little Greek island has become a nightmare of terror and DEATH. A ghoulish-looking character starts following her around. A black-robed figure leaps out and steals her belt--of all things! A Greek girl is STABBED TO DEATH! A madman holds Antonia at gunpoint...shoots one victim...then gets MURDERED himself! And that sinister figure keeps following Antonia--everywhere! Even you would be a little unnerved by this time. Wouldn't you?

Each year Antonia Winfield takes a holiday in the Greek isles. She loves the sun and the warmth of the Mediterranean. Her husband, not so much. He prefers fishing in Scotland...and fortunately his job takes him there while Antonia plans her latest holiday. She follows her usual pre-holiday plan--last minute shopping, a trip to the beauty parlor, a final fitting on a new outfit, and picking up the tickets and traveler's checks from her travel agent. Everything just as always...except for the man in the rumpled brown suit. Everywhere she goes, there he is. 

When her husband's niece appears on her doorstep having left her husband (to think things over), Antonia invites Tessa to come along with her to Greece. And when a train strike in France forces last-minute changes to their travel plans, she's sure that they've given the man in brown the slip. Until he shows up on the boat to the Greek island. She finally has had enough and confronts him. Of course, he denies following her about. And so it would be her word against his. Then a woman in black follows her to a local aquarium and steals her belt. Just when she decides that she and Tessa should leave the island, their husbands show up--Roger Winfield because there's been a burglary at their house and he wants to be sure she's okay and Alec Foley to try and mend things with Tessa. And then the murder happens. And another death. And Roger finally figures out what it's all about.

This stand-alone novel by Ferrars is more suspense and thriller than mystery. We spend a great deal of our time wondering why the man in the crumpled brown suit is following Antonia around--and wondering if anyone is ever going to take her seriously. Fortunately, her husband does and when he arrives things really start happening. I have to say that I wish there had been more of Roger and Antonia together in the book. It got way more interesting plot-wise and Antonia herself got more interesting as well. Overall, I enjoyed the fast-paced adventure and was pleased to be fooled. I had tagged another character entirely as the villain of the piece...even though I shouldn't have. So, the surprise at the end added the right amount of spice to the wrap-up. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: When the small gray-haired woman in the brightly flowered silk suit appeared in the doorway of the hairdresser and hesitated there in the warm sunshine, as if she were making up her mind whether or not to take a taxi, the man who had sat for the last hour in the coffee bar on the other side of the street got up and strolled out on to the pavement.

"Normal? Are conditions anywhere ever normal?" she demanded. "One always strikes the wettest, or the hottest, or the windiest season that's been heard of in that spot for years. This year, someone's probably going to tell us, we've just been unlucky and struck the most murderous." (Antonia Winfield; p. 169)

Last line: Next year was a long way off and there were hundreds of other beautiful islands in this shining sea.
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Deaths = 3 (one stabbed; one shot; one fell from height)

Murder on the Thirty-First Floor (Spoilerific)

 Murder on the Thirty-First Floor (1964) by Per Wahlöö

We open with a bomb threat delivered to an unnamed authoritarian nation's sole publishing conglomerate. It accuses the company of murder and says that the bomb has been set to go off at a certain time as retribution for the murder. Chief Inspector Jensen is assigned to the case--his initial goal is to convince the Director that the building must be cleared...against protests of how much money will be lost in the time the presses aren't running. He succeeds...mostly. Everyone is evacuated except for the mysterious "Special Department" on the thirty-first floor. Fortunately, the time for the bomb to go off comes and passes and nothing happens. But the conglomerate's officials insist that the police--Jensen--must find the person who sent the threat. The Chief of Police tells Jensen that this is his case and he must find the culprit within one week or.... (or what is never made quite clear--what is clear is that there will be Consequences with a capital "C")

What follows is pure police procedural with Jensen looking for those who may have some sort of grudge against the conglomerate or those in charge of the publishing concern. He works his way slowly through all who have left the company (whether voluntarily or not...) until he's able to pinpoint the culprit. Who has one final surprise for the company.

Here Be Spoilers! I can't talk about the book as I'd like to without spoiling what mystery there is....read further only if you have read this previously or don't mind knowing a great deal about what happens.

So...Wahlöö's novel is more dystopian future than it is mystery. It has more kinship with Orwell's 1984 and Bradbury's Farenheit 451 than it does with Sherlock Holmes or Wahlöö's joint-efforts with Maj Sjöwall in the Martin Beck series. Oh, there is a mystery--who is behind the bomb scare and why? And Chief Inspector Jensen does discover the answer to that. And there is murder--of a sort, as the culprit tells Jensen in their interview:

Do you understand the implications of what I have just said? This was murder, an intellectual, murder far more loathsome and distasteful than physical murder. The murder of innumerable ideas, the murder of opinions, of freedom of speech. Premeditated first-degree murder of them all, to give people guaranteed peace of mid, to make them disposed to swallow uncritically all the tripe that's stuffed into them. Do you see, to spread indifference without opposition, forcibly injecting poison after first making sure  there is neither doctor nor serum available.

The murder of free thought, of the right to question, of the possibility of a difference of opinion and the means to argue for it. Wahlöö builds his world upon the idea that television started this unnamed country on this path to anti-intellectualism; that the government built upon the "tripe" being doled out on television to water down everything from newspapers to magazines to sports events. I wonder what he would make of the world today and the effects of social media?

As social commentary, this is excellent. Wahlöö builds his dystopian world well. Those of us familiar with Orwell and Bradbury recognize the warnings well. The characters that people the novel are nearly all nameless, fairly interchangeable cogs. The only one who has a name is our protagonist, Jensen. The publishing conglomerate has no name. The men and women who work for (or who previously worked for) the company have no names--only positions. Jensen's superior officer is known only as the Chief of Police. His subordinates are merely Civil Patrol officers. We have a definite sense that the individual is not important. Jensen's chronic stomach issue seems to me to be indicative of the underlying discontent of this "perfect society." Other pointers are the uptick in drunkenness and suicides (that, in this world are never labeled as such--accidents, that's what they are, accidents).

There are two things that bother me about this story. First, just before Jensen confronts him at the end our culprit has sent another message with a bomb threat. We're left hanging as to whether it's real this time or not. Jensen who is monitoring things from the police station by radio and wonders in the last line whether the explosion, should it come, would be audible to him. (Although Jensen's reactions right before that last line seem to indicate that he believes it's real this time...) And, connected to the first, if the bomb is real, then there will be murder. Because once again the thirty-first floor is not evacuated which means that all the critical thinkers and intelligent writers who are secluded there will be blown up. This is dissatisfying in and of itself, but I'm also disconcerted by the fact that the one who is protesting the intellectual murder, the suppression of the writing of those critical, intelligent men and women would be ultimately responsible for their physical deaths. Of course, the conglomerate would also be guilty since they did not evacuate those people, but I'm not quite sure what Wahlöö's intent is by making the culprit and the conglomerate equal partners in any responsibility for deaths. And, it seems to me even though Wahlöö doesn't make it explicit, that Jensen would also have blood on his hands since he doesn't insist that his men see that those on the thirty-first floor are evacuated as well.

One other random thought--what was the deal with the badger and the Director there at the end? Did the badger bite him? Was the Director seriously injured? Or was the badger more symbolic? I'm just not sure what to do with the badger.

I'm not quite sure where I stand on rating this one. The social commentary is excellent and the writing style, setting, and characters all work well to underline the themes. But as a mystery I find it lacking. Despite the discovery of the culprit, there is no real resolution. Yes, the man is captured but we don't know how much he is responsible for--we don't know the extent of his crimes and that is unsatisfying. I'm also not satisfied with Jensen as our detective. I'm more in favor of a detective who wants justice to be done and I'm not sure Jensen is on the side of the angels. He may be following the strict justice of his society, but if the bomb is real he's definitely not blameless. I guess I'm going to go with ★★★

First line: The alarm was given at exactly 1.02 p.m.

Last line: He sat quite still and wondered whether the explosion would be audible so far away as this.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Great War

 The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Great War (2021) by Simon Guerrier

Another adventure for Holmes & Watson! Wait...not that Watson. Augusta Watson is young VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) member serving at a hospital near the frontlines in France in 1917. She's a very frustrated service member--after being trained in medicine, ambulance (and other) driving, mechanics, and various other skills, she's being used as skivvy for the nursing staff. Got dirty linens that need washing--let Watson do it. Got patients that need all sorts of bodily fluids cleaned up--let Watson do it. And her attitude sometimes let's her frustration show. So, she's surprised to find that when she's been called to Matron's office (again) it's not to have the riot act read.

She's to have the honor of showing the latest dignitary to visit the front around the hospital. These men generally come to see what "can be done for the boys in the trenches" and then don't seem to get anything done. But when she sees that this particular guest is the illustrious Mr. Sherlock Holmes, she's even less thrilled than usual. You see, with her last name she's had to endure every kind of joke possible--especially when she (a woman!) expressed the desire to study medicine. Nobody takes her seriously and she blames the celebrity of Holmes and his biographer. 

But she can't help but get interested when she realizes the detective is there to investigate a mystery and not just dole out empty promises about making things better. Holmes is on the trail of a young officer who was injured at the front and supposedly died at the hospital, but there is no record of him. Not as having been on the ward. Not as having been dead on arrival and sent straight to the morgue. No record at all. Watson is assigned to assist Holmes in his inquiries and the further they dig, the more they come to realize that there is a deeper plot...one that seems intent on causing unrest and higher casualities among the soldiers--on both sides of No Man's Land. It's up to Holmes and Watson to find those behind the plot and put a stop to it.

Not every entry in "The Further Adventures" series of Holmes stories is created equal. I don't seem to be able to resist these whenever I come across them--in used bookstores, at our annual community book fair, or at Barnes & Noble--and I've let myself in for some real stinkers (The Veiled Detective, I'm looking at you). But once I got over the fact that we just had to have a nurse's aid by the name of Watson, I settled down and enjoyed this one. The mystery is a good one with several well-placed clues and a lot of war-time adventure. I was just a bit worried that we were going to venture down the path blazed by Laurie King (throwing this Holmes & Watson into a relationship), but I don't think that was the plan. And by the end of the story I was hoping that Guerrier had penned another. There are some sentences here and there that refer to an adventure in which Augusta Watson gets to meet the Dr. Watson. But, alas, it seems that adventures has not yet been discovered among Watson's papers.

Overall, an enjoyable Holmes pastiche. ★★★★

First line: By the first week of December 1917, I thought myself quite inured to the horrors of war.

Las line: Nonetheless, do write and say if, for the sake of your archive, you should also care for my own account of those events.
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Deaths: 8 (six shot; two stabbed)

Aristotle Detective

 Aristotle Detective (1978) by Margaret Doody

Synopsis (from the back of the book): When a violent murder leaves a prominent citizen dead and a falsely accused suspect in exile, a master philosopher turned part-time sleuth is drawn into the baffling mystery. The scene is Athens, 332 B.C.; the murder weapon is a bow and arrow; the investigator, an in inexperienced young boy. There is only one mind capable of putting together the puzzling pieces--that of the great and wise Aristotle. Stephanos does the legwork, exploring the ins and outs of the city, and the master ponders the clues and weighs the evidence in a splendidly dramatic trial before the supreme tribunal of Athens. Aristotle unmasks the villain in a dazzling display of deductive logic.

My take: This was just a snooze-fest for me. We have Aristotle set up as a Holmes wanna-be with Stephanos acting as his active Watson. Though Stephanos has more of a stake in the mystery since the wrongly accused man is his relative. I'm afraid that I didn't find any "splendidly dramatic" moments nor "dazzling display[s] of deductive logic." The villain of the piece is pretty obvious very early in the book and viewing all of this through the eyes of Stephanos was excruciating. He may be filling the shoes of Watson in this story, but the original Watson is far more appealing. 

Others on Goodreads have rated this much more highly--so perhaps one needs a more philosophic mind to really appreciate it. I guess I'm just not a philosophic girl. ★

First line: It was in the month of Boedromion in the waning of the third moon after the summer solstice that the terrible deed was done that was to have so long and arduous a consequence.

Last line: "Polygnotos commanded the best rhetoric of all."
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Deaths = one stabbed

Don Among the Dead Men

 Don Among the Dead Men (1952) by C. E. Vulliamy

If you don't like inverted mysteries and knowing pretty much everything except whether the police will figure out that murder has happened and be able to pin it on the guilty party, then you best not read the first paragraph.

So...Dr. Bowes-Ottery, lecturer in chemistry, is studiously working his way towards a professorship by doing all sorts of experiments with benzenes and colloids and whatnot when he injects his latest concoction into a lab rat and accidentally discovers an apparently impossible-to-trace poison that gives the victim a grand sense of well-being and euphoria before a quite painless death. What a gift to mankind! Bowes-Ottery sees himself dispensing it to all sorts of undesirables who do nothing but harm to the public. He would never doing harm to anyone--but a painless death that wouldn't be anything to trouble one's conscience over. But it doesn't take long for his scheme of benefiting humanity in general turns to one of personal vengeance on those who have been troublesome to the good doctor in one way or another--a fellow academician who has meddled in all sorts of affairs from those that touch Bowes-Ottery personally to those in the university on a grander scale. Then there's that annoying Mrs. Talantoun, the university gossip, whose tittle-tattle ruins reputations and who has recently notices that Bowes-Ottery pays more than a mentor's attention to the young, shapely student who works in his lab. A tongue like hers most definitely needs silencing. And when he tires of the all too clingy shapely student...well, he can't have her ruining his chances for the top prize in his field, now can he? 

His lab assistant remembers the queer incident with the rat and he begins to get worried. And when Bowes Ottery is made a professor and a new chemistry lecturer is hired...and the two don't seem to get on...and the new chemistry lecturer gets sick in a rather odd way...the lab assistant and the lecturer put their heads together about Bowes-Ottery's last experiment before all the deaths started happening. Meanwhile, the police haven't been as happy with the coroner's court verdicts as it would appear and they've been investigating as well...But will they be able to gather enough evidence to convict our poisoner? Will justice prevail? Well...don't read the last quote below if you want there to be any mystery at all in this story (should you happen to want to track it down and read it for yourself).

I have so many mixed feelings about this one. It's an academic mystery--which I love. It's an inverted mystery which I hate. It has an absolutely fantastic opening with an apparent lunatic or gleeful drunk driving crazily across country producing confusion and mayhem wherever he goes, laughing outrageously at everything he does, and killing himself when he runs into a steam roller--and, yet, we're told it's murder. It's one of the best two-page intros I've read in a long time. And then we're introduced to the murderer and we get to read his journal entries and see what a delusional, self-important, megalomaniac he is. No investigation, no looking at clues, no police interviews with suspects (as far as I can tell they don't have any suspects until somebody gets the bright idea that our murderer might have tried to kill the one person who escaped his clutches). But...there's all these lovely, entertaining peeks at university life that I adored. Oh, and the scenes between the prosecuting attorney and the murderer's defense attorney are priceless--as well as the trial itself. And it's always a good sign if I'm grabbing up quotations right and left.

But....as a mystery it falls flat. Because, in my book, it's not one. Yeah, the suspense of "will he get away with it?" is supposed to carry the day in an inverted mystery, but it doesn't really here. Vulliamy, I think, must have thought himself rather clever with his little twist at the end, but that didn't really do it for me either. So, overall: ★★ and 3/4--I just can't bring myself to give a full three stars.

First line: The car pulled up with a screech and a shuddering heave on the grassy verge of the lane, and the driver's cheerful face appeared at the window.

"Well, you can go easy now. Nobody expects a professor to do more than is required of him--and that's damned little." (the new Professor of Greek; p. 56)

Psychology? That is the last refuge of desperation, if I may venture to say so, with the greatest respect to Dr. Roberts. It leads you round and round for ever and ever, and you get nowhere at all. (the Coroner; p. 94)

"You never know where you are with a learned man; he has a way of being elaborately simple." (Inspector Butts; p. 105)

"Innocent people are much more likely to show confusion than guilty ones. Always remember that. Not only are they usually more timid, but they are taken aback by what seems to them so utterly preposterous; whereas the others are continually on the alert." (the Superintendent; p. 106)

If the residents of this University, or its illustrious visitors, were to get in the habit of dying mysteriously with a certain resemblance in the preliminary symptoms (and it's not easy to avoid that), a kind of general suspicion would arise which might become somewhat embarrassing. (from the journal of our murderer; p. 149)

"If you did happen to kill her, even by accident, you simply mustn't say so. I've known you for some years, and the notion seems to me too incredibly fantastic, my dear boy; but we all do funny things now and then." (our murderer's lawyer to him; p. 162)

Last line: Still, I am inclined to believe that he was convicted on a charge of which he was perfectly innocent. And yet, in the strangest way, justice was done; for Justice (like her sister Truth) may wear the mask of irony.
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Deaths = 7 (one car accident; six poisoned)

European Reading Challenge 2026

 

I'm getting ready to pack my bags for another tour of Europe with Gilion's 2026 European Reading Challenge – where participants tour Europe through books.  And have a chance to win a prize. Please join in for the Grand Tour! (I've linked the review page--but the link for the sign-up is there as well.)

THE GIST: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour. (See note about the UK, below)

WHAT COUNTS AS "EUROPE"?: We stick with the same list of 50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe. This list includes the obvious (the UK, France, Germany, and Italy), the really huge Russia, the tiny Vatican City, and the mixed bag of Baltic, Balkan, and former Soviet states.

THE LIST: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City.

NOTE: Even after Brexit, the United Kingdom is still one country, in Europe, that includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. So one book from any one of these four counts as your one book for the United Kingdom. I'm not going to be a stickler about it because challenges should be about fun not about rules. However, when it comes to winning the Jet Setter prize, only one book from one of the UK countries will count.

I will again be aiming for the 

FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE): Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.

Books read:

1. Don Among the Dead Men by C. E. Vulliamy [UK] (1/7/26)

2. Aristotle Detective by Margaret Doody [Greece] (2/3/26)

    No Peace for the Wicked by E. X. Ferrars [Greece] (5/18/26) [bonus]

3. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Great War by Simon Guerrier [France] (2/7/26)

4. Murder on the Thirty-first Floor by Per Wahlöö [Sweden] (4/6/26)

5. Spellbound by Francis Beeding [Switzerland] (6/13/26)

Commitment Complete!

6. DeKok & the Somber Nude by A. C. Baantjer [Netherlands] (7/10/26)

7. 

The Nine Waxed Faces

 The Nine Waxed Faces (1936) by Francis Beeding (John Leslie Palmer & Hilary St. George Saunders)

In the absence of his chief, Colonel Granby, Bob Hardcastle was serving as head man at intelligence headquarters when an urgent message came in from an Italian painter who had provided information in the past. Ludwig Berthold needs to meet with a highly placed intelligence office, so Hardcastle goes himself--only to receive a coded message that directs him to another, more famous, painter and a secret society known as Edelweiss. Berthold is having difficulty getting out of Italy and the members of Edelweiss, who hide their identities behind wax masks, are experts at helping those who need to cross the mountainous Italian border without fuss. But when Bob and his guides ski into a trap, Bethold vanishes and Colonel Granby shows up to help Bob sort everything out. With Nazi spies and Italian agents hiding behind friendly faces, the two men are in a race against time to find Berthold and the vital information he carried.

The fate of Central Europe is in the balance in this spy thriller set on the eve of the second world war. Germany and Italy are jockeying for position in Austria in an effort to "secure their borders against France." Lots of intrigue and action in the Austrian snow! Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Hmph. I'm thinking that maybe I just wasn't quite in the mood for a spy thriller, because I feel like this is a better book than I think it is at the moment. Maybe I'm a bit depressed because of what's currently going on in the world (and the good ol' U. S. of A) at the moment. Either that or I was disappointed that this wasn't more of a traditional mystery (as my previous experience with the author's Murdered: One by One would lead me to expect). So, yeah, very little mystery here--other than are all the people we think are dead really dead? (SPOILER--no, in fact they aren't. Or--if they are, not when we think they are.) Mostly a lot of running about looking for people who get snatched and tied up or snatched and (maybe) killed. The writing is pretty snappy and fast-paced, so there's that. But I really would have liked a bit more mystery and less hole-in-corner business. Especially when the wrap-up at the end doesn't feel very wrap-up-ish. Probably because Beeding had no idea where world events would take everyone in just a few years.

This is one that I'm probably going to need to read again sometime, just to see if it really is better than I think right now. ★★★

First line: I was working, aloft in Battersea, in the high flat which is not a flat, and the butler, who is not a butler, had received orders that I was on no account to be disturbed.

Last line: As for Wilhelm Fuchs and his brotherhood of Edelweiss, for all I know, the nine waxed faces still move around the pleasant streets of Innsbruck or upon the wind-swept crags of the mountains around the city, helping those that fly from a tyranny still triumphant in a world heading ever faster for Armageddon.
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Deaths = 4 (three shot; one executed)

The Silver Peril

 The Silver Peril (1931) by Maryse Rutledge

Britton (apt name, that) of the British Secret Service takes on evil mad scientist bent on destroying the civilized world.

My reviewer's work is done. Short and to the point. What's that? You want more? Are you sure? Well, okay...here's what we have from the dustjacket: No one knew where Torad, the mad pilot, would strike next, but it was up to Britton of Scotland Yard [though he's explicitly identified as a "secret agent"] to stop him.

The Silver Peril, a glistening gray helicopter, rose and descended vertically like a hummingbird with its pilot fantastically garbed in silvery coat and helmet. It showered destruction on the streets of Bucharest, killing and maiming hundreds.

the As de Couer, a dingy cafe on the the Rue des Vertus in the blackest part of the Montmartre, headquarters for le Rouge's Apache gang--knife men--supplied Britton with his first clue. A moment later he found himself allied with those from whom he had most to fear, battling for his life in a fierce struggle against ruthless Apaches.

A story of mystery and intrigue; of love and adventure; of the activities of Scotland Yard, and Torad, the wizard of science who, wreaking vengeance for personal sufferings, discovers himself vulnerable to the charms of an American Girl.

So...Britton is asked by his chief to discover where Monsieur Michel (a person of interest) is getting his money. Coincidentally while dining with his girl (or, rather the young woman he has hopes of being his girl), he spots Michel with another person of interest, de Raskoff (an infamous scientist). The Service has yet to prove anything against either one of them. And it's Britton's job to try and rectify that. His assignment will test himself and the girl he cares for to the limit.

According to the same dustjacket this is "Maryse Rutledge at her best!" Hmmm. If this is her best, I'm not sure I want to see what else she did. It's supposed to be a "story of gripping adventure and mystery in the air," but, I'm afraid, I wasn't gripped at all. It was a quite standard, evil-madman-wants-to-destroy-civilization-because-reasons story. Britton is a fairly likeable chap, but I have to say that I don't care much for Jane, he hoped-to-be girlfriend. I mean, here they are at dinner and she realizes that the two men across the way are of interest to Britton (professionally) and she practically shouts in the restaurant how exciting it all is and, wow it's not everyday I'm with a secret agent! 

***************SPOILER!! I'm not recommending this book, but if you do happen across it and decide to give it a look then you might not want to read further....

So....at the end of the book she supposedly is all in for Britton. And, apparently, cared for him all along. As Nero Wolfe would say, "Pfui." She certainly doesn't act like it. She treats him appallingly throughout the early chapters. She nearly reveals who he is to the bad guys. And then falls under "Torad's" spell. Even at the end after she's supposedly let him know how she really feels with a look (while under Torad's watchful eye), she still comments to Britton (as noted in the last line below), "But--he was rather grand, you know--" If I'm Britton (and thank goodness, I'm not), I'm not trusting Jane an inch. What happens when the next "rather grand," mesmerizing bad guy saunters along?

I like Britton (except for his fascination with Jane) and he might make a good investigator in a case that focused on him and left out the love interest. So, all stars for him. ★★

First line: You know everyone in London.

Last line: "But--he was rather grand, you know--" 
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Deaths (named--hundreds unnamed): 3 (one fell from height; two blown up)

Nothing Is the Number When You Die

 Nothing Is the Number When You Die (1965) by Joan Fleming

Nuri bey, accidental detective (who helped find a murderer and a drug ring in his last book), is asked by his friend Torgut to leave Turkey and and go to London to look for his missing son, Jason. Jason is in his third year at Oxford and should be studying for his final examinations. He also should have come home during the last holiday--and didn't. Torgut is sure that something dreadful has happened to the young man. Nuri has never been to England and isn't sure that he's the right man for the job and insists he must think it over. After taking a very long and circuitous route home, he arrives to the news that Torgut has been brutally murdered...just moments after he and another friend, Landrake had left he house. 

Now, it is not Torgut begging his assistance, but Torgut's lovely half-Russian, half-English widow Tamara--a woman that Nuri has long adored from afar. Like the knights of old, it's possible that if Nuri is successful  that he will win the lady's love and it isn't long before she has convinced him to go. He hopes that the young man has just wanted to sow a few wild oats before finishing school and heading out into the "real world." But as soon as Nuri sets foot in England, he finds himself followed by a man he noticed on the plane. Amazingly, a brief scuffle with his shadow gives Nuri the upper hand and his investigations show ties between the shadow, Jason, and another trail of drugs....a trail that leads right back to Turkey and puts his lady in danger.

This is one of those titles that got put on my "To Be Found" list so long ago, that I can't remember how I came across it or what made me so interested in the first place. I suspect it was the mention of Oxford and the missing student (giving me an academic mystery vibe), but as I started reading it I really wasn't feeling the love for it as a mystery. Nuri bey is an interesting character (he loves books and I feel his pain when we're told that his house full of books burned down--at the end of the last mystery?), but he's most definitely not a gifted amateur detective. As mentioned above, he's an accidental detective. He wanders into situations or gets finagled into them by beautiful ladies. He seems to be awfully lucky in keeping out of the clutches of the bad guys. He somehow figures out the whole drug plot and even having read the book I can't tell you how he did it. I can tell you what the plot was--but I have no clue how Nuri was able to lay it all out based on what "we" found while looking for Jason. He also gets the answer to the murder of his friend Torgut--but not because he solves it, the culprit confesses to him. With no provocation whatsoever. And, honestly, Nuri didn't even need to know...he wasn't trying to solve the murder. He only wanted to find Jason (which he did) and return to Tamara to live happily every after (which it looks like he will...). ★★ and 1/2--all for Nuri's character and interactions with all the people in the book. But none for the book as a mystery.

First line: "...and I shall always remember you saying, my dear Nuri, after that historic occasion, only two years ago, when your house was burnt down and all of your books destroyed, that now you would study, not books, but the people amongst whom you lived."

Last line: "Can it be, can it be," Nuri bey asked with great shining eyes, "that it is, when 'all is said and done,' a woman's world?"
*********************

Deaths = 4 (one natural; one shot; one explosion; one strangled)

Lord Darcy: Murder & Magic; Too Many Magicians; Lord Darcy Investigates

 Lord Darcy (original 1983; revised 2002) by Randall Garrett

This omnibus volume contains two short story collections and one novel (all published previously as separate works) in addition to two stories not included in any of the collections--listed last, though the Lord Darcy collection organizes all of the detective works chronologically according to Darcy's timeline. The final story actually occurs the earliest in Darcy's career, but as our editor points out, it is a story of Darcy's war years and not truly a fantasy/detective story. I plan on reading these as if they were the separate volumes they once were (with the final stories as a bonus and counting for the Lord Darcy overall collection). 

Our editor also tells us about the detectives making appearances (albeit under different names) throughout. He especially challenges us to find three puns referring to The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in Too Many Magicians. I spotted two...but the third one has eluded me.

Murder & Magic (1979)  

"The Eyes Have It": Lord Darcy is called upon to investigate the murder of Count D'Evreaux, found shot in his bedroom. A gun is found in a hidden staircase (used by the count's lady friends for privacy) and it's distinctive nature seems to point towards a certain suspect. But there is more to the mystery than meets the eye... (one shot)

"A Case of Identity": Lord Darcy begins his investigation with a quest for the missing Marquis of  Cherbourg. When another man who looks enough like the Marquis to be a twin is found dead, Darcy suspects an even deeper plot. One that involves a plot by the Polish kingdom to disrupt the Anglo-French economy. Shades of Sherlock Holmes as well as espionage thriller in this one. (one natural; one hit on head; three stabbed; one shot)

"The Muddle of the Woad": When the Duke of Kent dies after an illness, his master woodworker prepares to bring his coffin for the burial. What a surprise to find that the coffin already has an occupant--the Duke's chief investigator who had disappeared while on a mission to Scotland. Lord Darcy is called upon to get to the bottom of the mystery. This has a definite air of tribute to Lord Peter Wimsey--The Nine Tailors in particular. Instead of bell-ringing, we have a focus on woodworking. But a great many of the character names used by Sayers in the bell-ringing scenes may be found here--Masters Gotobed, Lavender, Wilderspin and Venable all tip their hats to the Sayers work. And Master Gotobed is every bit as particular about his woodworking as Harry Lavender ever was about bell-ringing. There is even evidence given by the young woman of the piece--just as Hilary Thorpe provides a vital clue to Lord Peter. (one natural; one stabbed; one drowned; one shot)

"A Stretch of the Imagination": When a publisher is found dead, it appears to be suicide. But since a member of the aristocracy is involved Lord Darcy is asked to investigate. Interesting locked room mystery where Lord Darcy must figure out how a man could be hanged (other than suicide) in a room where no one entered and the window was shellacked so it could not have been opened far enough to admit anyone. (one hanged)

Overall, Randall Garrett has given us a fine look at what the world might have been like in such an alternate history. And he mixes the best of fantasy and detective fiction to produce a very interesting collection of fantasy-driven mystery short stories. The mysteries are fairly straight-forward and most are fairly clued. The final (and shortest), "A Stretch of the Imagination," is the most Holmes-like with Lord Darcy appearing very much as the detective genius with admiring audience and few clues given to the reader, but it is the exception. A very entertaining book--coming in at ★★★★ (up from a previous reading of the stand-alone edition)

First line (1st stor): Sir Pierre Morlaix, Chevalier of the Angevin Empire, Knight of the Golden Leopard, and secretary-in-private to my lord, the Count D'Evreux, pushed back the lace at his cuff for a glance at his wrist watch--three minutes of seven.

Now, come, my lord. You have that touch of the Talent that all the really great detectives of history have had--the ability to leap from an unwarranted assumption to a foregone conclusion without covering the distance between the two. You then know where to look for the clues that will justify your conclusion. You knew it was murder two hours ago and you knew who did it. (Master Sean in "A Stretch of the Imagination"; p. 437 in Lord Darcy edition)

Last lines (last story): "Come, Master Sean. We have an appointment for dinner, and the hour grows late."

**************************

 Too Many Magicians (1966): Lord Darcy is asked to investigate a murder in Cherbourg, but before he can get very far his assistant Master Magician Sean O'Lochlainn is arrested in London for murder of a very important master magician at a magician's conference. Sir James Zwinge, a Master Magician as well as spymaster for London's branch of intelligence for the Empire, has been killed behind a locked door. A door locked not just in the conventional sense, but with a level of magic that few could tamper with. But with a hotel full of magicians is a locked room ever really just a locked room? And since Master Sean was the last one near the room...and was known to have had a "loud discussion" with Sir James...he's the prime suspect.

The Marquis de London (and, incidentally, Lord Darcy's cousin) knows full well that Master Sean didn't do it, but he also knows the arrest will bring Darcy to London and he wants Darcy to investigate without having been asked directly. Because that would involve a fee and the Marquis is not only lazy (though brilliant), he hates spending money on anything other than himself...and his hobby, rare plants. As soon as we meet the Marquis, we recognize the detective Garrett has modeled this story after...Nero Wolfe. The Marquis is a hefty fellow, brilliant, lazy, and uses ten-dollar words. He says, "pfui" and "flummery." He has a side-kick who does his legwork and who appreciates the female form as much as Archie Goodwin. (The Marquis doesn't.) He has a red leather chair for important guests. Lord Bontriomphe (a lovely French nom de plume for the Archie character) doesn't quite have the smart-aleck commentary style down, but it's definitely there. And when Lord Darcy first enters Wol--er, the Marquis's rooms, he seems to have taken on a Cramer-liker attitude towards his cousin, though only briefly.

Garrett gives us not only a very fine Nero Wolfe pastiche, while sneaking in some references to The Man from U.N.C.L.E., he also gives us a very clevery locked room mystery. It's evident throughout Garrett's magical detective works that he is well-steeped in both detective literature and popular media and he employs references to both in ways that will delight mystery connoisseurs of all types. ★★★★★

Deaths= 6 (two stabbed; one fell from horse; two natural; one strangled)

First line: Commander Lord Ashley, Special Agent for His Majesty's Imperial Naval Intelligence Corps, stood in the doorway of a cheap, rented room in a lower middle-class section of town near the Imperial Naval Docks in Cherbourg.

"That's what I said: Smollett is holding out on us. You want to hold him while I poke him in the eye, or the other way around?" (Lord Bontriomphe; p. 293 [Lord Darcy edition])

Last line: In the golden tracery work surrounding the shield were the lions of England and the lilies of France.

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Lord Darcy Investigates (1981) 

The last collection of Lord Darcy short stories printed during Garrett's lifetime. Another enjoyable quartet of mysteries. ★★★ and 1/2

"A Matter of Gravity": Another locked room mystery. This time we have an aristocrat who has apparently flung himself out of closed tower window. The only clue is a bright flash of light that seemed to bounce around the room (and observed by guardsmen below) before he fell. Garrett's story, like many of his others, pays homage to various Golden Age detectives/authors. John Dickson Carr was the master of locked room mysteries and both he and Michael Innes have stories which feature a death involving a tower. But the murder itself most resembles a Sayers story featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.  But to speak plainly about it would reveal all to anyone who has read the story. So ROT13 coding for the rest: Gur zrgubq bs zheqre va Ohfzna'f Ubarlzbba vf zbfg qrsvavgyrl ng cynl urer. V pna nyzbfg urne Jvzfrl fcrnxvat gb Ohagre nobhg gur zrpunavfz sbe gur pnpghf nf Ybeq Qnepl rkcynvaf ubj gur Pbhag jnf cebcryyrq bhg gur jvaqbj. (two fell from height; one shot)

"The Ipswich Phial": More cloak and dagger with Polish agents. The body of one of His Majesty's secret agents is found shot to death on the unbroken sand of a Normandy beach. A visiting gentlewoman out for a walk discovers him and the only footprints are her own. The agent had been on the trail of a Polish spy who had stolen a new secret weapon--the Ipswich Phial. Darcy not only solves the apparently impossible murder, but retrieves the missing weapon. No direct references to other authors/detectives that I caught, but the plot has the feel and humor of a Steed & Peel Avengers episode. (one shot)

"The Sixteen Keys": Lord Sefton is found dead in a locked room in his locked summer cottage. He had gone to retrieve an important packet containing a top-secret naval treaty for the Duke of Normandy. Now he's dead and the packet is nowhere to be found. Lord Darcy & Master Sean are on the case! This one returns to the very Holmesian feel of some of the others--Lord Darcy keeps things very much in the dark till the very end. There is also a connection to Oscar Wilde--though the maintenance of youth isn't as much due to the dark arts. (one rapid old age)

"The Napoli Express": Lord Darcy and Master Sean are travelling incognito to deliver the naval treaty rescued in the previous story. While aboard the Napoli Express, the murder of a naval officer occurs and the two simply must get the crime solved quickly so they don't miss their appointment with foreign dignitaries. But how can they do so without breaking their cover--especially Lord Darcy's? Garrett has given us a Murder on the Orient Express pastiche with both very familiar scenes and dialogue: "They are lying," Praefect Cesare said flatly, three hours later. Each and severally, every single one of the bastards are lying." after interviewing the passengers one-by-one in the dining car. And they all know each other, though they are trying (unsuccessfully) to pretend otherwise. But Garrett also gives circumstances and scenes a twist allowing for a different solution. (one hit on head; one poisoned)

First line (1st story): The death of My lord Jillbert, Count de la Vexin was nothing if not spectacular.

This, Lord Darcy thought, is what comes of assuming that others, even one's closest associates, have the same interests as oneself. ("A Matter of Gravity"; p. 454 [Lord Darcy edition]

Last line (last story): The train moved on toward Napoli.

***************Bonus Stories***********

"The Bitter End": An unknown man is poisoned in a bar in Paris at the same time that an entire family of some importance is killed by gas. Master Sean is on the spot--a patron in the bar as he waits for a connecting train to take him back to Rouen--and gives assistance to the local investigating team--although the sergeant in charge of the case views him with grave suspicion and insists he can't leave the city. Lord Darcy arrives from Rouen to clear up the case; mostly because he's in need of evidence that Master Sean was bringing back with him. Here Master Sean gives us a bit of Dr. McCoy from Star Trek: "I'm a thaumaturgist, not a miracle worker." [despite being a magician which seems to me to be very similar....]. I don't this time see an obvious connection to any particular classic mystery, however. (one poisoned; four gassed) Not quite as good as previous stories, but still very enjoyable. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: Master Sean O'Lochlainn was not overly fond of the city of Paris.

Last line: Lord Darcy said nothing, he had the Zellerman-Blair case to worry about, and he had no wish to meddle in the affairs of wizards.

"The Spell of War": The last story about Lord Darcy written by Garrett, but it takes the reader back to the first meeting between Lord Darcy and the magician Sean O'Lochlainn. Not strictly a mystery in line with the other stories, but Lieutenant Darcy (as he was then) does have to figure out how the Polish Army is stealing such a march on his company of soldiers. He solves the puzzle neatly and manages to pull of a nifty bit of counter-strategy as well The meeting of the two men makes me think of what it might have been when Lord Peter and Bunter met in World War I. (three shot--named; many more not named)  Interesting backstory episode and it shows the early stages of Darcy's abilities as an investigator. ★★★

First line: The lieutenant lay on his belly in the middle of a broad clearing in the Bavarian Forest, on the eastern side of the Danau, in a hell of a warfare, on the eastern side of Dagendorf.

Last line: The Hell with it, he thought. And knocked the dottle from his pipe.

Murder on the Orient Express: The Graphic Novel

 Murder on the Orient Express: The Graphic Novel story by Agatha Christie (1934)
~adaptation by Bob Al-Greene (2023)

If you would like an in-depth look at Agatha Christie's mystery novel, then please see my previous reviews: HERE and HERE.

This review is devoted to the graphic novel. I'm not generally the target audience for a graphic novel, but when I find one devoted to the mystery field I definitely cannot resist. So, when I discovered that this was out in the world, I immediately put it on my Christmas list for 2023 and one of my personal Santas delivered.

Al-Greene gives us a beautiful book. The artwork is stunning and, for the most part, I appreciated his rendering of the story. I'm not sure that he got Poirot's mustache quite right and I think that he was influenced by Kenneth Branagh's choice for the character. I also thought there was a bit of influence from the interpretation of the final scenes of Branagh's movie--though we have a reversal with Poirot seated at the table and all the suspects standing before him. And we have a slightly more diverse cast (again, as with the film) Just a couple of passing thoughts as I read. But, overall, I absolutely enjoyed Al-Greene's vision of the novel. Given the format, he couldn't give us all of the dialogue word-for-word, but he managed to capture the essence of Christie's work in fewer words without losing anything important. And, unlike screen versions, he also managed to work in all of the essential clues. The few cuts made are handled in such a way that those who have read the story before may notice them, but they certainly won't miss them. This would be an ideal way to introduce more modern readers to one of Christie's more iconic mysteries. ★★★★★

Kate at Cross Examining Crime has done a marvelous, in-depth review of the graphic novel and you couldn't do better than check it out.

First line: Well...today is Sunday.

Last lines: Then...having placed my solution before you...I have the honor of retiring from the case. Adieu.
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Deaths = 4 (one shot; one fell from height; one stabbed; one in childbirth)

The Book of Killowen (spoilerish)

 The Book of Killowen (2013) by Erin Hart

The fourth book in the Nora Gavin series finds Nora and Cormac Maguire back in Ireland after Nora returned to the United States to try and finally bring her sister's murderer to justice. This time they are drawn into forensic case that combines the discovery of an ancient "bog man" with a modern-day murder. 

An excavator digging in the peat bog near Tipperary, discovers a sunken car. When the peaty turf is removed from the boot (trunk), it reveals the remains of a ninth century (or thereabouts) man. Nora, Cormac, and Niall Dawson, all experts in archaeology and pathology, are called in by Detective Stella Cusack and the local authorities to examine the remains. But the real question is how did a ninth century man wind up in the boot of a modern day vehicle? 

As Nora begins her examination of the body in situ, she realizes that there are one too many feet. There's another body underneath the bog man--and it winds up being Benedict Kavanaugh, a well-known philosopher and TV personality who has been missing for a few months. Why are the two bodies together? What was Kavanaugh doing in the area? And why didn't anyone see him and/or come forward when appeals were made at the time of his disappearance? All trails seem to lead to Killowen, a local artist's colony. Kavanaugh's wife and her "assistant" often stayed there. All of the inhabitants seem to be a bit skittish on the subject of Kavanaugh. And...once upon a time the philosopher that Kavanaugh was most interested in stayed at a local monastery. Nora, Cormac, and Stella Cusack find themselves in the middle of a mystery with ties to blackmail, treasure trove, secret identities, and ancient heresy. The past and present mingle and it's sometimes difficult to discern how much the past has influenced the murder of Kavanaugh. And why does the killer seem to be able to anticipate their every move?

---Spoiler ahead!!!---

I thoroughly enjoyed Hart's Haunted Ground, the debut novel in this series. I found her combination historical/modern mystery very intriguing and well done. The second novel, Lake of Sorrows, wasn't quite as captivating and I never could bring myself to read False Mermaid (which tells the story of of bringing Nora's sister's killer to justice). The blurb on that one indicates that once again the more recent murder had ties to a more historical one in Ireland and I just couldn't see how that would work. I was glad to see that Nora and Cormac were back at work in Ireland for this one. The tie-up between the ancient philosopher's murder and Kavanaugh's made sense and, for the most part, the mystery works well. The characterization is strong and vibrant--even more so than the debut novel. And it was interesting to meet the various inhabitants of the artist's colony. But.... (here's where the spoilery bit comes in)

I was disappointed that there was more than one killer involved. Generally speaking, I like there to be plenty of motives to go around so the reader has to sift the evidence and figure out which one is the one that pushed someone to kill. Nearly everyone at the colony has a skeleton in their closet which gives us a nice set of suspects to think about. But it makes things a bit too murky when there are several murderers to go along with the several motives. If it weren't for that little quibble, I'd give this a full four-star rating for sure. ★★★ and 3/4

First line (Prologue): The oak wood was still.

First line (1st Chapter): Kevin grasped the twin joysticks and thrust the right one forward, feeling the fierce hydraulic power in the arm of his backhoe.

Stella was fond of books. She liked holding them, savoring their inky, wood-pulp smell. She especially loved wasting a whole weekend whenever she could manage it, holed up with a glass of wine and a juicy potboiler. (p. 164)

Blackmail, if that was Claffey's game, was like playing with a serpent: in order to profit, you had to get close enough to risk a deadly bite. (p. 170)

Last line: She leaned forward and laid her head on his shoulder, and he could feel her heart beating, through solid flesh, in quiet double rhythm with his own.
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Deaths: 6 (one stabbed; one smothered; one hit on head; one fell from height; one poisoned; one suicide)